When they started digging they knew something would appear. It is not unusual for archaeological remains to be found in works on the Metro, vestiges of forgotten times.. Brussels is not Rome, but not so long ago on the ground floor of parking lot 58, a few hundred meters from the City Hall, a pier appeared (ships once reached the center) dating back to the 14th century, and objects and food remains that allowed Learn a little more about the way of life of the inhabitants of the area at that time.
That is why the interruption of work when giant bones appeared was not a surprise.. That these were mammoths, on the other hand, was funny. First, because this species of fossil elephant lived in regions with a very cold climate and today they would still be quite in their element.. Second, because, according to the dictionary, “he had his skin covered with long, rough hair, and his incisors were curved and developed,” like several of my neighbors.. And thirdly, because if one followed the news it was impossible not to reach the same conclusion: the most probable cause of the extinction of the mammoths here was not climate change, but the abuses for not understanding the rules of priority to the right and the shootings of criminal gangs.
Last week was a spectacle, in its most terrifying sense. Here we always joke that if one had to stay home scared by every news of a jihadist with a knife or a terrorist with a Kalashnikov, we would not see the light of the sun.. Well, the thing about the sun is a saying. But in a few days, the Police confirmed five shootings, one dead, several injured and some seizures of automatic weapons at checkpoints.. Everyone, by the way, in St. Gilles and its surroundings, a neighborhood with an unjustified good reputation.
The situation in Belgium and the Netherlands got out of hand a long time ago, as in Sweden, but for strange reasons they have not fully penetrated the collective imagination.. On the one hand, drug, weapons and human traffickers. In the Netherlands there were almost 400 attacks with explosives last year, and Antwerp, its port and surrounding area, is a regular scene of bombs, settling of scores, shootings, murders and destruction. But it's as if we didn't find out here. Things from another planet that do not suit us. Until they reach the front yard, not even the back yard.
On the other, the jihadists. All major attacks in Europe have happened in one way or another through Molenbeek, through Brussels. Without the Islamic State in the headlines every week, we go through a lot, but the same guys who killed (us) five years ago are still here, doing their thing, waiting. The imam who this week went to preach peace at the Brussels Parliament with a surah against the Jews is a good reminder.
The embassies are considering what to do, whether to alert travelers or let them go.. If there is a real risk for tourists or is it only between criminals with some collateral damage. Brussels has never been a safe city, especially for women. But between the settling of accounts, the expansion of crack and the deterioration of the stations, things are getting more and more dodgy. Brusselsland, world capital and theme park of spies, drug traffickers, jihadists and dinosaurs.